Hello my wonderful readers! I'm sorry it's been almost two months since I updated anything. I'm blaming Writer's Block. I finally got some productive writing done thanks to the recent rain I've been getting. I don't know why rain makes it easier to write, it just does. Anyway, I'm happy to announce the voting was unanimous! You all wanted a lighter story and so you shall get one.
Like I said before, I was fine with either way, I just didn't like where it had been going and only had to make a slight U-turn once I looked at the poll's results. Now there is still going to be some darker elements, nothing to severe, but it's Hojo we're dealing with. The guy's a First Class Creep! But you'll be surprised with how things turn out.
Enough rambling from me though, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and I'll try not to make you all wait too long until the next one. ;)
Sephiroth rode the elevator to Reeve's office. All was quiet and he was alone. He had taken a small detour to the training rooms to clear his head and relieve some stress. With everything that was happening he needed to keep a level head and deal with everything properly. Most of what was going on he couldn't help or was too far away to render aide. All he could do was trust in the skills of his warriors and hoped they'd be successful.
The elevator dinged as he arrived at the correct floor. The general felt bad that out of all the departments in the company it was the one that was designed to serve the people that suffered most. The entire floor had been seemingly abandoned with all its employees serving other branches. Only the head of the department himself was left to run it. Sephiroth was convinced Shinra was only still employing Reeve in case the president needed a scapegoat, which was a real shame considering all of the wonderfully useful secrets the man was keeping from the company.
Sephiroth knocked before entering, giving the man ample time to cover up any hidden plans although Sephiroth would more than likely fully endorse them. As he suspected there was rapid movement before Reeve composed himself.
"General, I thought you had changed your mind, it took you a bit to get here."
Sephiroth nodded, "My apologies, I made a small side quest. Where is the prototype?"
"I understand. It's easy to get side-tracked in the training rooms."
Sephiroth wanted to question how Reeve knew that, but decided to wait and see what else the man might reveal. If he was spying already then maybe this would be easier than he thought.
Reeve moved over to the smaller desk on the side of the room next to an outlet. "I've got everything set and have already done a test run. It performed well, but it still has some bugs to work out."
"Such as," Sephiroth found himself feeling oddly curious to see what it looked like, but Reeve kept the device hidden under a towel.
"Its power source needs to be tinkered with. I tried using a mako internal engine, but that didn't work. I tried using lithium ion, but that caused it to overheat and nearly combusted on me. I was lucky enough to save the program chip. I've jerry-rigged a temporary fix, to test the system, but It only lasted an hour before I was alerted to the low battery signal. It got stuck in the vents a foot from my office. I had to scrape it out with a broom. Now I'm trying to charge it back up and hope the memory survived."
Reeve grabbed a corner of the cloth and pulled it away, revealing the pet project and Sephiroth failed to hide the smallest of smirks when he recognized the robotic cat he had met in the future. Out of the entire group that confronted him in that back alley he couldn't understand why a plush cat was among the savage looking crew. The general felt a comforting sense of fulfillment while gazing at the robot. As if he was keeping his promise to reunite the group. The fact that they told him not to worry about it and let it happen naturally didn't matter. They had been brought together for a reason and Sephiroth intended to make sure that was one part of history that would repeat.
After all, he thought of it as poetic justice. He was the reason they came together in the first place so it was his duty to make sure it happened again, just not as an enemy this time. And this time it would be complete with Zack and Aerith apart of it. Sephiroth had failed his friends once, he wasn't about to do it again.
The general remembered then that the others had already told him what their mindsets were in the past. Reeve had always been yearning for change and was open to most plans. He just didn't know how to act without someone discovering his actions and considering them as a betrayal. However if the general offered his support then it my make things easier for both of them.
"You're talents are wasted in this dust-covered department. You could do so much more if given the opportunity."
"Oh, is that an invitation?"
Sephiroth couldn't believe he had taken the bait so easily.
Reeve then let out a small chuckle. "Forgive me general, but I knew it was a matter of time before you tempted fate again."
Now Sephiroth knew Reeve was onto him. "How long have you known?"
"I wasn't trying to spy, but I've been keeping tabs on you ever since the other Firsts began acting strange. I kept quiet and observed, but I've noticed the changes in your demeanor over the past few months. If you had broken down like the other two I assumed you would eventually turn up missing or take action against the company. I wanted to ensure my own survival, but you had never given me reason to act."
"And yet you know now that I intend to go against the company. What is your plan now?"
Reeve smiled at the general, but it wasn't smug and the general sensed no ill-intent coming from the man, so he waited to hear his answer.
"I had started to worry when you left for Nibelheim, your behavior was teetering towards unpredictable and I feared you were nearing the breaking point. But then you returned well grounded and determined. It was clear to me you had found a better purpose and you were far more open with not just your second in command, but normal personnel as well. I also saw footage of you leading a cadet from the training room. You looked furious, but you were also supportive of your follower. Something changed you on that mission, but I'm glad it was for the better. If you wish to change the company from the inside, you can count on my support."
Sephiroth couldn't hide the smallest of smirks. "Tell me, was Cait Sith watching me in the training rooms?"
Reeve blinked in surprise. "How'd you know its code name?"
"You are a brilliant man Reeve, but don't forget that the world is full of surprises."
The snow fell gently through the trees as two cloaked figures made their way towards the outskirts of the sleeping town. The blond was completely against this stupid idea and wanted to turn back, but his red-headed friend was too damn stubborn to listen to sound reason.
During the past few days they had made their way north from the warm canyon region to the frigid Nibel mountains. They had tried hunting for food, but the blond lacked the proper tools and the red-head knew nothing of wilderness hunting being raised as a city kid on the streets. Sure, he could fight off thugs and bums and now as a Turk he had better training, but tracking your prey and catching it were two different things. Cloud just regretted opening his big mouth.
It was after their fifth mountain hare had fled from them that he mentioned his mothers fresh vegetables that she grew in her garden behind their house and that even in winter something would always grow because the house offered protection from the elements. That's when Reno got the bright idea of pinching a few items from the garden. Cloud had argued and at one point their spat had almost turned into a fist fight. A bear just happened to pop out of the bushes and scared the living tar out of them. Reno wanted to fight, but Cloud saved his life as he pulled him out of range of the bear's slashing claws.
The blond wasn't against finding food or even stealing from a garden, but he didn't want to get caught in his hometown. He knew what he might find when he returned home. He had seen it happen once before. A neighbor 's son had left to join SOLDIER two years before he had, to help in the war against Wutai. He had been killed and both Cloud and his mother saw the other mother react to the news. The woman wailed and fell to her knees while her husband was torn between trying to console her and shouting at the messenger for things the guy had no control over.
"Despicable display," his mother had called it.
"What if that happens to me, won't you cry," he remembered asking her.
She kneeled down to look him in the eye. "You've never seen me cry yet, have you? Besides, you're too smart to get yourself killed. You'll make me proud."
Cloud was too smart to die for a stupid reason, but in his current situation it bothered him that he had to play the role of a coward. He would do what he had to, but he still hated it. That included sneaking into his hometown and stealing food from his own garden.
As they emerged from the trees towards the little gate that sealed off the little plot of fertile land Cloud nudged Reno, reminding him to keep quiet. Reno just rolled his eyes and pulled out a tool to break the lock. Cloud smacked him in the back of his head and shoved him aside to open the gate naturally.
After they got in it was clear Reno had no knowledge of gardening as he tried to look around for anything poking out of the snow. He smiled as he spotted a green stem and went to pull it when Cloud yanked him back.
"The hell man," Reno whispered.
"Those aren't ripe yet," He whispered back. "Eat that now and you'll make yourself sick. I hope you don't expect me to carry your sorry ass around because it's not happening."
"Okay then mister garden master, what is edible?"
Cloud looked around until he spotted the patch of vegetables he had planted himself and knew exactly when they would be ready to harvest, which was now. Just to make sure he dug up one himself and smirked as he tossed it to Reno and pointed to the section he had pulled it from.
A flickering light appeared in the window and the boys instantly ducked down. After a moment Cloud nodded towards Reno to keep digging up the produce as Cloud's curiosity got the better of him and he looked in the window. What he saw made him feel horrible.
His mother's back was to him as she gazed at a photo above the fire place. It was a photo of him. Dressed in the clothes he wore on the day he left to begin his cadet training. She didn't take photos often, but insisted on one for that day. "The day my boy became a man." She had dubbed it. Judging by the way she was looking at the photo he had assumed she had already been told that he was dead.
His purest desire was to kick the front door wide open and stroll right in to prove otherwise, but he stayed hidden to protect her. If anyone found out he was still alive and she knew she would be put in harm's way and there was no way he'd let that happen.
That's when she did something he didn't expect. She spoke.
"I've given it time. Trying to figure it out, but it still doesn't make sense. Someone has to be lying. You're too smart to be killed."
He clenched a fist as he heard the pain clear in her voice. The last thing he wanted was for her to suffer pain of any kind.
"I know it's not impossible," she continued, "no one is invincible, but where your common sense fails your stubbornness exceeds and even when that runs out you have amazing luck. You survived that fall with only a few scraps and a sore shoulder. But it's hard to deny the facts. It's been long enough and there's been no word from you."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself before continuing.
"I won't lie to myself, I do want to cry, but I have never broken a promise and I don't plan to start now."
She looked back up at the photo and Cloud just knew she was smiling.
"Sweetheart, I hope you don't think of yourself as a disappointment for whatever happened. I know you're still alive; we mothers have this special power to sense their children. And I don't sense that you've joined the Lifestream. It's not like it was with him. So I'll wait and keep hoping until you walk through that door. I'll welcome you home with open arms and then I'll smack you upside the head for making me worry."
Reno snickered behind Cloud, catching the last of what his mother said, startling him and alerting his mother to their presence.
"Who's there!"
Reno wanted to duck and hide, but Cloud knew better and pulled Reno with him as they leapt over the fence and vanished into the trees.
Mrs. Strife emerged from the house wielding a shotgun and glared into the night. She checked her property and studied the garden. She glared when she saw someone had stolen from her and inspected the fence. She was surprised to see it hadn't been broken or picked and seemed as if she had left it open. She knew she had locked it earlier. She then saw the imprint of someone's hand as they had jumped over the fence. It was identical to the way her son would always leap the fence.
She looked out towards the trees behind the house and stared on with suppressed hope. After a few moments she slowly smiled and closed the gate before heading back inside.
A couple hundred yards away Cloud and Reno finally stopped to catch their breath. Cloud braced his hands against his knees as Reno leaned against a tree. "Man, that was close!"
"That was your fault," the blond gasped.
"Blame your mom! She went from sappy to funny in zero point three seconds!"
"You were supposed to be gathering the food."
"And what were you doing?"
"I was keeping a look out, moron."
"You're getting pretty damn gutsy Blondie. What happened to that quiet cadet that was always trailing behind Zack?"
"That was before someone shoved an older head on my shoulders. I don't know much about the older me, but it's safe to say he's rubbing off on me."
Reno glared at him. "And what if he decides to take over, what will happen to you?"
Cloud blinked, realizing he hadn't even thought of that. "But that couldn't happen. He's wiser and knows more, but I'm the one who can influence the future. What happens to me affects him, so he can't do too much, at least I don't think he can."
"Sounds like a pretty big 'if' there," Reno replied.
Cloud shrugged. "Well, he hasn't done too much except try to help and the headaches suck, but they're not too bad. It's better than floating in a tank of mako at least."
The ex-Turk was about to comment further when Cloud straightened up. "Come on, let's get moving before the whole town comes to investigate. We still gotta check the reactor."
Reno just stared at the blond as he retreated further into the trees before shaking his head. This had been his idea, he might as well see it through. At least the kid was doing something and not looking back every few minutes, regretting his decision to tag along. Reno couldn't decide whether he was glad or miffed that the blond had taken the lead and decided where they would go, then again he was also the one with an older version of himself shoved into his head, so Reno supposed he'd have a better idea on what would make the biggest impact.
With a defeated sigh he followed after him.
